7 Skin Care "Rules" You Need to Break

Think your routine is working for you? Wait until you see these sneaky ways your skin care habits are causing wrinkles, zits, and more

Rule No. 5: You should use benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid to dry out zits If you suffer from acne, your routine probably involves using a benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid spot treatment on any blemishes that pop up. But there's good reason to re-think that advice.

Spunt and O'Connor point out that these ingredients are harsh, irritating, and drying for almost everyone. So while they may kill bacteria and eventually get rid of your zit, they can also leave you with red, flaky skin that's practically impossible to cover with concealer. A better solution? "Try gentler products like willow bark and clay to calm inflammation and draw out impurities," Spunt says. "Gentler products can still fight pimples, and do so without drying your skin and making it look worse during the process."

Excellent tips. If you have very puffy eyes, a heavy cream will exacerbate the problem. Otherwise, I've been "freed" by learning that I can use the same moisturizer on my eyes as on my face. These are great tips!

In my case since I have hyperpigmentation, I exfoliate daily with Murad AHA/BHA cleanser, which is very gentle enough and 2 or 3 times a week I use philosophy's Microdelivery Peel. It's a vitamin C peel and it's excellent! These products allow whatever is used to treat the hyperpigmentation to sink better into the skin and work to get better results.